Around Us 02-09-10

Published 6:00 pm, Monday, February 8, 2010

The university says about a quarter of people on the payroll should wait until they receive a corrected version before filing their 2009 taxes. Officials notified individuals last week and said they soon will receive a W-2c correction form containing the accurate number for their wages, tips and other earnings.

The accounting glitch also affected staffers at the Tech Health Sciences Center.

Babar Khan, managing director of payroll services, didn’t discuss any details and referred to the errors as a part of "the normal course of business."

Sally Post, a university spokeswoman, said Khan’s department realized its "human error" last week and immediately notified affected employees.

The incorrect numbers, according to e-mail alerts from Khan to affected staffers, came after the university failed to report employees’ imputed income associated with discounted premiums for life insurance. — Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

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LUBBOCK — A local insurance official was jailed Monday, accused of embezzling nearly $17,000 from Farmers Insurance over a three-year period.

Denton Ray Rose, 48, was booked into the Lubbock County Jail just after 11:30 a.m., jail records show. His bond was set at $5,000.

Authorities accuse him of depositing customer checks into his personal account between July 2005 and June 2009.

A loss-prevention auditor for the company conducted an audit of Rose’s records after receiving a complaint from a customer and notified police of the findings.

Rose hid his activities by changing customers’ addresses to post office boxes that he controlled, allowing him to receive the past-due notices, court documents say. He did make partial payments for some customer accounts to Farmers.

Rose admitted taking money from customers and placing it in his personal account, according to a police report.

A local branch official said the company took care of everything for the customers affected. — Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

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AMARILLO — Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and Iron Man Cal Ripken Jr. will be the speaker tonight at Amarillo College’s 2010 Distinguished Lecture Series at the Amarillo Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts. The lecture beings at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are $15 for the public and $5 for AC students. Depending on availability, tickets can be purchased at the door or at the AC Washington Street Campus Assistance Center, or by calling 806-371-5000. A limited supply of autographed books will be available for purchase, along with a raffle for 10 autographed baseballs.

Proceeds benefit AC student scholarships.

Ripken, one of the greatest players in major league history, played in a record 2,632 consecutive games, breaking Lou Gehrig’s record in 1995. — Amarillo Globe-News

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AMARILLO — A Potter County grand jury has indicted an Amarillo woman on seven charges that allege she illegally obtained the narcotic hydrocodone by forging a prescription from two Amarillo dentists.

Katina Michelle Pickering, 37, was indicted on seven counts of possessing or obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.